About 60 percent of Montenegrin citizens support the idea of settling disputes out of court, but the number of those who heard about mediation is at the same level as six years ago, which is why information and education are crucial when it comes to mediation.
This was announced at a press conference of the Center for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM), on the occasion of the presentation of the results of the research: "Citizens' Attitudes on Mediation", which was carried out within the project: "Support to Improving the Efficiency and Transparency of Montenegrin Judiciary", implemented by CEDEM with the support of the Ministry of Justice.
CEDEM Program Manager, Ognjen Marković, said the survey was conducted from July 5 to July 17, with 1,002 respondents participating, and that in 2013 CEDEM conducted a mediation survey in cooperation with the OSCE. "When asked if you or someone close to you has had experience with a court in the last three years, in October 2013, 68.3 percent of citizens said they had no experience with the court, and in July this year, 72 percent said citizens. The number of those who had experience with the court was reduced from 31.7 to 28 percent, "Marković told the PR Center.
"The key problem regarding mediation is the lack of information among citizens, who in this respect need elementary education," Marković said.Experts rated the expertise, professionalism and personal qualities of the mediators as very important.
According to him, the idea of solving problems outside the court in 2013 was supported by less than a quarter of citizens, while today more than 60 percent of citizens support this idea."On the other hand, six years ago, almost 65 percent of citizens did not have an opinion on this issue, and today only every tenth citizen falls into this category," Markovic said.
